The additional protection comes as welcome news to conservation groups, some of which have been pushing for the change for more than a decade. "I'm elated that 14 years after we first tried to get these elusive animals protected, they're finally proposed for the Endangered Species Act protection they need to survive," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director of Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. "Now more than ever fishers need protection from old-growth forest logging, trapping and poisoning."